Chapman gets Dexter by Central Tigers win 4th crown

BANGOR – The Dexter field hockey team had a two-goal lead at halftime of Thursday’s Eastern Maine Class C field hockey championship, but the Tigers still weren’t playing the kind of game they wanted.

And coach Margaret Veazie let them know about it at halftime.

“We weren’t hustling or cutting to balls,” Chapman said. “I think we were a little nervous. I was nervous.”

But in the second half, the Tigers seemed to remember that they’ve played in big games before. Chapman finished with two goals as the three-time defending state champions rolled to a 4-0 win over No. 2 Central at Husson College’s Winkin Complex.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Dexter senior back Courtney St. Germain. “They’re very physical, they always have been, and I guess we just knew we had to step up. This has been our goal all year.”

The Tigers, now 17-0, will face the winner of Thursday’s Western Maine final between Jay and St. Dominic. That game will start at 10 a.m. at the Gorham High field.

The win was another milestone in what has been an emotional week and season for seven-year coach Margaret Veazie, who has decided to resign at the end of the season.

She was hoping a fiery halftime talk would knock the intimidation out of the Tigers.

“I get on them hard at this level, and they did step up,” she said. “They weren’t being aggressive. They needed to run to the ball and not be afraid. It’s like, you can’t get pushed if you can’t catch me.”

Chapman scored her first goal almost seven minutes into the first period. Sarah Wyman worked the ball up the left side of the field and crossed it inside to Chapman, who put it in.

“She came down and I was in the middle. I was just trying to get it in really quick, but it went in really slow.”

Brittany Veazie, Margaret Veazie’s daughter, scored almost two minutes later off a pass from Brandi Alton. Veazie missed a penalty stroke that would have made it 3-0, but Meagan Fogarty converted one four minutes into the second half.

Chapman scored again with less than a minute left in the game.

The Red Devils of Corinth (13-4) had a double-team on Brittany Veazie, a midfielder who creates much of what happens on Dexter’s front line.

Jenny Rollins and Shawna Bell marked Veazie.

“We tried to take away her passing ability and I think we did,” Central coach Diane Rollins, Jenny’s mother, said. “They’re used to scoring eight or nine goals a game, so I was proud. It was nice to see us play the way we did.”

But the extra defenders on Veazie and the special attention paid to the offensive-minded Fogarty meant other Dexter players had chances to score.

“If you double-team, you leave a person open, and my team isn’t just Brittany and Meagan,” Margaret Veazie said. “They left Nikki wide open.”

Dexter’s Cindy Koscielny made one save on three shots. Tiffany Tilton and Jenna Dauphinee combined for four saves on 12 shots.

Thursday’s game was played on artificial turf. Bad field conditions due to Wednesday’s rain prompted the move to Husson.